Still Breathing

"I am glad that so much movement happens in this stillness"...(Richard Land). My last article was about feeling overwhelmed, thus motionless when one is feeling passion and desire at the same time. The feeling of being motionless is about being still in the center of an internal emotional storm. When caught in the center of that type of emotional hurricane...sometimes the only action one can manage is breathing. The trick is to not become comatose and detached. You may still be breathing in that scenario but very little emotional work is being accomplished. When people check out because they are so overwhelmed, the inaction causes further delay and perhaps even more turmoil. If that is one's path however, then that is how they must process and learn. For others, stillness is needed to sort through and grow in insight and awareness. Much is learned and attained in stillness. Often most of our emotional growth happens when we are the most still. Even though it feels like we are not moving, things are shifting profoundly in and around us. Again, it depends on the use of stillness as a way to move forward when it's time. Here are some inspiring quotes about stillness. "Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself"...(Hermann Hesse). "No thought, no action, no movement, total stillness: only thus can one manifest the true nature and law of things from within and unconsciously, and at last become one with heaven and earth"...(Lao Tzu). "Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form"...(Eckhart Tolle). "The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest"...(Bruce Lee). I know that personally, I remained still for quite awhile, contemplating my life, my next move and sometimes just sitting with a heck of a lot of emotion. Upon reflection, I was still breathing at times (just barely) but trying to get through each day with the hope and desire that movement would take place at some point. I was growing leaps and bounds in that stillness however. Once I took my first step, I realized that something had profoundly shifted within me. I was transformed in all of that time I was just breathing. Stillness was my journey within, to find the real, true me...sitting quietly waiting to be guided out of the fog. It may have felt like a storm of epic proportions going on all around me but the true me was not afraid of the storm. That first step required such courage which had grown stronger in the stillness. I weathered the storm and kept a steady pace, even when the rain and winds were taunting me to go back. I forged ahead, took lots of deep breaths and paused and reflected when needed, but I kept moving forward emotionally. The storms surrounding people are often made up of fears, judgements and doubt. The storm dissipated more and more with each step. I took risks I thought were impossible before, began to show a vulnerability that I would have taken great lengths to hide previously and my perspective about myself and the world completely shifted. It was as if a veil was lifted and I was allowed to see the world in vivid color. Stillness is my best friend now and with each breath, I honor the incredible growth I made by going within. I carry stillness with me as part of who I am and it continues to illuminate more than the naked eye can ever begin to see. Back to "Anonymous," who may be in the center of their own emotional storm, let love-passion-desire together light the way and you too will find your path out of being motionless when your time is right. "It is the stillness that will save and transform the world"...(Eckhart Tolle).